Your Top Wii U Games

[Nester the Lark]

Now that Breath of the Wild is out, I think it's safe to assume that there won't be any more notable releases on the Wii U. And that means it's time for the traditional “top games” thread!

So, what are your top favorite Wii U games? It doesn't have to be a top 5 or top 10. You can just list some of your very favorite games for the Wii U and say a little something about them.

As for me, here's my Top 10:

10. Yoshi's Woolly World – A true successor to Yoshi's Island. Great challenge, and I loved the art style. Made me smile a lot!

9. Super Mario Maker – It was hard to resist making my own Mario courses. My inspiration ran thin after a while, but I still enjoyed messing around with it.

8. The Wonderful 101 – One of the most original big-budget games I've played in recent years. Steep learning curve, but a very overlooked game.

7. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water – My first experience with the Fatal Frame series left me wanting more. I was especially touched by the story with its themes of loneliness, and the (good) endings were surprisingly cathartic for me.

6. Star Fox Zero – My favorite Star Fox game. I, personally, had no problems with the controls, and the rest of it was exactly what I wanted out of a new Star Fox.

5. Bayonetta 2 – A great action game with a lot of personality and replay value. Didn't think I would come back to this one as much as I did, but it definitely grew on me over time. (Bring on Bayonetta 3!)

4. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – One of my favorites of the DKC series, tied with Diddy's Kong Quest. Exudes all the quality, polish, and attention to detail I've come to expect from Retro Studios. Also, amazing soundtrack by Dave Wise. (I even 200%'d it.)

3. Splatoon – I wasn't sure I'd like this game at first. I was afraid it might make me motion sick, and at best, I figured I'd spend a few weeks on it and then move on to something else. It ended up being a huge surprise for me, and one of the best original Nintendo franchises to come along in years. I still jump back into it every now and then.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – A Zelda game always ends up in my top 5 games for any Nintendo console, so no surprise here. It's too early for me to rank it against other Zelda games, but Breath of the Wild has essentially been my second life since it came out.

1. Hyrule Warriors – I expected to like this game, but I didn't realize how much. I've spent more time with Hyrule Warriors than any other Wii U game, spanning about two years. Got all the DLC and unlocked every character, costume, and game mode. I think I finally did everything I wanted to do in it, but how could I pick anything else for my favorite Wii U game?

I think my takeaway for the Wii U library is that there weren't a ton of games released for the system, but many of the ones that were gave you an enormous amount of bang for your buck.

EDIT (October 10, 2017): Bumped Breath of the Wild up a notch. Sorry, Splatoon!

[nocturnal YL]

My list is going to be an incomplete one. While the Wii U has ended, I'm not done with buying Wii U games yet. And perhaps a boring list too, since it contains few surprises beyond "I like this series, so I like this game by extension".

I don't have many games to begin with, and most of them didn't wow me. I suppose a top 5 list out of 11 games would do. (Actually 12; the Wii U I got came with New SMB U and Wii Party U, and I never bothered to connect my Wii Sensor Bar to play Wii Party U.)

Actually, let's also talk about games I have but didn't make it to top 5. I'll be brief in this part (the actual top 5 will be verbose).

Star Fox Guard — Never liked defence games to start with, but I thought getting Zero without this would feel incomplete. It was fun, but it was difficult.

Star Fox Zero — It had everything I wanted in a Star Fox game... except the unforgiving difficulty. Come on, I can't properly enjoy this game if I can't at least unlock all routes. (I did make it to the ending, it's just the alternative routes that I couldn't finish.)

New Super Mario Bros. U — Continuing New SMB Wii's lineage and with a giant, interconnected world map, this looks great. I was somewhat sick of the New SMB formula at the time, so I didn't start playing until much later. I'm glad I have it as part of my Wii U package, although I'm not sure if I'd have gotten it standalone if I started with a blank Wii U. I didn't get New Super Luigi Bros. U because I didn't like its logo.

Super Mario Maker — Bought the game hoping to relive the fun I had with Lunar Magic. Ended up realising a game console is no match for a computer when it comes to level design (or game-making in general). At least the best user-created levels are really fun.

Paper Mario: Color Splash — I liked its humour, and its vibrant, colourful world. And the music is great, as expected from Paper Mario. But why does it have no save data management functionality at all? You can't even start a new game without deleting the save file (which, by the way, cannot be done in-game) or making a new Wii U system account. I've seen Mario & Luigi with just 2 save slots, but this!?

Mario Kart 8 — I was uninterested at first, until they announced the DLC. My most wanted course, GBA Ribbon Road, was available, and it was made much better with a complete revamp! If only it has a proper Battle Mode and retained the 2-item system... Yeeeeeah.


Alright, here's my top 5 list:

5. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse —

Not the best game; it's a bit short, actually. But it's so adorable and its bonus soundtracks add to the game.

SPOILER: Click to show

There are mainly two kinds of Kirby games: Main series Kirby with serious, dark stories (many sincere thanks to director Shinya Kumazaki and the others at HAL Laboratory for making post-Brawl Kirby excellent), and the more light-hearted spinoffs. The Wii U is sadly not blessed with the former.

Rainbow Curse is light on story, and it's an incredibly short game, but what little it gives is enjoyable nonetheless (though it did leave me an "I'm unsatisfied, I want more" feeling). Kirby and Elline feel like they are on a date (Kirby doesn't seem to be aware of this), and the whole experience is just so adorable. Waaaait, Kirby on a date? Where have I seen this before...?

This game regrettably doesn't have Copy Abilities, and doesn't really offer much variety compared to Canvas Curse. What it did right is the regular-sized levels that don't feel too short. And the best part of this game is its soundtrack: besides the regular game BGM, there are 36 tracks from the older games remixed in Rainbow Curse's style that can be collected in-game. Even though it's something you can listen to online anyway, these did add to the game's value.

4. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U —

Smash got its fighters right, 8-Player Smash is mostly good, but everything else have room for improvement.

SPOILER: Click to show

I may be starting to get tired of Smash, but it was an exciting thing in 2014. I was living overseas in the UK as a student, so I had all the time to follow Smash news (except on the Smash 3DS release day, because I still had to do my final project). Fans speculating over the game may be annoying, but it's actually quite funny to see them getting fed up about not getting what they want in the game. It's all the sweeter when multiple characters I wanted made it as Smash fighters (Bowser Jr., Koopalings, Robin, Lucina, and specifically not Chrom). Mwahahahaha. I'm evil.

The actual game is a bit disappointing, with a lack of truly innovative game modes. I don't want Multi-Man Smash or Home Run Contest for the third time in a row, thank you (I'm okay with Smash keeping those, but they should also add new Stadium modes). Stages are somewhat disappointing too, with some of the new stages too large to be useful (those probably serve better as alternatvie Smash Run stages), some are too predictable or unimaginative (instead of standard level 1 or hub worlds, how about something like a factory for a DK stage or the Tower of Guidance for a Fire Emblem stage?), and some outright violate level design principles (PAC-LAND is not a good Smash stage, no matter how you look at it).

One mode did catch my eyeballs: 8-Player Smash. Though the stage choice is very limited (anyone tell me why can't I play it in Omega Coliseum or Final Destination?), the prospect of a large-scale battle is a dream came true. Mario fighting all Koopalings at once! 3-on-3 Pokémon battles! Waifu wars! Think of all those possibilities! (Though for the record, my favourite way to play Smash is to pick fighters from 8 different worlds and place them in a stage from a 9th series.)

3. Puyo Puyo Tetris —

Having completely different puzzle games clash with each other feels fresh. This game made me buy a Wii U.

SPOILER: Click to show

I don't know if this game really belongs to this list when you can get it on 7 different platforms. ♯FE may make me want a Wii U, but this game made me actually buy it. It sounds unreasonable now (with superior versions coming out), but in early 2014, if you want to play Puyo Puyo or Tetris (or both) in HD, this is the only game to do so and you need a PS3 or Wii U.

At that time, Puyo Puyo already had my interest, although I have never played SEGA Puyo at that point. As with any other new game, I was undecided whether I should buy it, usually because I am concerned whether I can actually finish the game. For all I know, it could be another Star Fox or Metroid where I get stuck in the middle and never get to finish the game. And for this reason, a crossover with something I'm already good at - Tetris - is just what I needed. (Maybe not "already good at" when I invaribly use DT cannon openings.) The prospect of two completely different games battling each other interests me too, since the other puzzle compilations I have (like Nintendo Puzzle Collection) don't have any interactivity between the games.

2. Super Mario 3D World —

Linear 3D Mario done right. Fun, memorable design, controls are (mostly) spot-on.

SPOILER: Click to show

The multiplayer is fun (only tried that twice), and green star hunting is actually a fun exercise. It has a far better control scheme too; no more accidentally falling off cliffs due to shoddy camera work and no D-pad support. Too bad they didn't get rid of Y dash, and the way the game automatically corrects Mario's movement angle to the nearest 22.5 degrees can be annoying when the level is not rectangular, such as those circular boss fight arenas.

The level designs are actually memorable compared to 3D Land, where only select levels (there's that clock stage, and...?) are notable. It may not feel grand as the Galaxy games did, but the world felt inviting nonetheless. Tell me Puffprod Peaks or the entire World Bowser isn't gorgeous. I wonder if those who complain about this game's similarity to 3D Land did so because of its graphics or the rectangular level design, but I think this is just the way Mario's world is.

1. Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE —

Very enjoyable story, especially Tiki's side story. Better than an actual SMT×FE.

SPOILER: Click to show

Did you expect anything else from me? I've probably mentioned this more than enough times, but Tiki's side story alone makes this game my favourite. This game didn't offer much in terms of exploration or even gameplay, and it's actually the story (and the many, many references to ATLUS, Fire Emblem and pop culture) that earned my affection.

I also like how this game made me see Tiki and Tharja differently. I'll try to summarise: Tiki changed from a child-like character who is overly attached to Marth to a (still child-like) dutiful ritual performer who also relays useful information. Tharja changed from a stalker with who can't quite express herself well to the most intelligent FE character I've seen. She can deduce the current situation from past stories written on relief sculptures (the mirages lost their memories, and Tharja was no exception), and she successfully created the Uta-loid Tiki software to ensure her survival. She's still a stalker, though.

If I have to complain, it'd be that (1) Itsuki cannot be swapped out of the battle party, and (2) some story threads were not followed on, such as what's happened to the audience of the incident 5 years ago or what's happened to the abducted audition contestants in the Prologue.

Trivia: I was skeptical when Nintendo announced a Shin Megami Tensei crossover, and unlike many fans who were disappointed by the game's first trailer, I was so glad that this didn't end up as a dark, gloomy SMT-themed game. I never liked SMT in terms of graphical style.

And that's it. My top Wii U games (among what I did buy, anyway), predictable as ever.

I may get Captain Toad and Donkey Kong; I'm not sure. I need to shake myself off the 3DS first, which I don't think will happen soon.

I'm pretty certain a list of my top 3DS games would be more interesting. I'll need to actually finish the games I bought first, though. Still haven't started playing Sayonara Umihara Kawase and Picross 3D 2.